Bell v. Royal Seas Cruises, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedSeptember 21, 2020
Docket0:19-cv-60752
StatusUnknown

This text of Bell v. Royal Seas Cruises, Inc. (Bell v. Royal Seas Cruises, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bell v. Royal Seas Cruises, Inc., (S.D. Fla. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO. 19-CIV-60752-RAR

BRENDA BELL, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated,

Plaintiff,

v.

ROYAL SEAS CRUISES, INC.,

Defendant. ____________________________________/

ORDER AFFIRMING AND ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon United States Magistrate Judge Jared M. Strauss’s Report and Recommendation [ECF No. 42] (“Report”), filed on May 13, 2020. The Report recommends that the Court deny without prejudice Defendant’s Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss Plaintiff’s Class Action Complaint [ECF No. 16] (“Motion”) pending a bench trial on the limited issue of whether Plaintiff, or someone authorized by Plaintiff, visited the website at issue on September 11, 2018 at approximately 11:09 EST and clicked “Continue,” which the Report concluded was sufficient to manifest assent to the arbitration term. See Report at 1. Plaintiff filed objections to the Report on May 26, 2020 [ECF No. 43] (“Objections” or “Obj.”), and Defendant filed its Response to Plaintiff’s Objections on June 9, 2020 [ECF No. 44] (“Response”). Having reviewed the Report, Objections, and Response, conducted a de novo review of the record, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows: 1) the Report [ECF No. 42] is hereby AFFIRMED AND ADOPTED as supplemented herein; 2) Defendant’s Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss Plaintiff’s Class Action Complaint [ECF No. 16] is DENIED; and 3) a bench trial shall be held on the limited issue of whether Plaintiff, or someone authorized by Plaintiff, visited the website in question and clicked “Continue” at the date and time specified above. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background The Court assumes familiarity with the factual background but will provide a brief overview of the relevant circumstances here. Plaintiff filed a Class Action Complaint on March 22, 2019, alleging violations of the

Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) after receiving approximately five (5) telemarketing calls from Defendant. See generally Class Action Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial [ECF No. 1] (“Complaint”). Defendant seeks to compel arbitration, arguing that Plaintiff agreed to an arbitration provision governing this dispute when Plaintiff visited a website (http://www.consumerproductsusa.com; hereinafter the “Website”) on September 11, 2018. The Website is owned and operated by RewardsZone USA, LLC. According to an affidavit Defendant filed in support of its Motion, visitors to the Website are prompted to provide identifying information, including their name, telephone number, email address, mailing address, and birth date. See Ex. A to Motion at ¶¶ 7, 11-12 [ECF No. 16-1] (“Bhadania Affidavit”). According to the Bhadania Affidavit, a user visited the Website on September 11, 2018

and provided Plaintiff’s name and other identifying information. Id. at ¶¶ 7, 11-12. That user then pressed the “Continue” button, which was directly underneath a statement that read: “I understand and agree to email marketing, the Terms and Conditions which includes mandatory arbitration and Privacy Policy.” Id. at ¶¶ 7-8; see also Report at 2 (providing visual image of the relevant portion of the website). The site’s Terms and Conditions, which could be accessed by clicking the hyperlink on those same words above the “Continue” button, contain an arbitration provision that requires the website visitor “to arbitrate individually any disputes or claims you may have with [the Website owner] and [its] affiliates, advertiser clients and marketing partners (collectively, ‘Marketing Partners’) who are third party beneficiaries of the mandatory arbitration provision.” Bhadania Affidavit at ¶ 9. The terms specifically state that “any claims . . . regarding any telemarketing or SMS/text messages you receive are subject to the mandatory arbitration provision.” Id. On a subsequent page displayed after a user clicks the “Continue” button described above, the user is asked to confirm his or her personal information to complete registration. Id. at ¶ 12.

Below a display of the information the user provided, a message appears explaining that the user, by checking a box and clicking another “Continue” button, consents to receive telephone sales calls and text messages “from CAC and our Marketing Partners” at the telephone number the user provided. Id. Although the Terms and Conditions do not identify whom the Marketing Partners are, the words “Marketing Partners” are hyperlinked and clicking on the link displays an extensive list of “call center brand names” including Defendant. Id. at ¶ 13. Plaintiff denies that she ever visited the Website prior to the filing of the Motion and avers that she never authorized anyone to visit the site on her behalf. Ex. A to Response at ¶ 6 [ECF No. 26-1] (“Plaintiff’s Declaration”). However, she acknowledges that the person who visited the Website on September 11, 2018 provided Plaintiff’s correct name, phone number, mailing

address, email address, and date of birth. See id. at ¶ 8. B. Procedural Background On June 25, 2019, Defendant moved to compel arbitration, arguing that Plaintiff agreed to arbitrate her claims when she visited the Website and clicked the “Continue” button, thereby consenting to receive the telephone calls at issue and acknowledging her assent to the terms and conditions of the Website, including the arbitration agreement. In her Response, Plaintiff argues that since she never visited the Website, she could not have clicked the “Continue” button to indicate assent to the arbitration agreement (assuming that would constitute consent). Alternatively, she argues that even if she was the person who visited the Website and clicked the “Continue” button, such conduct did not create a binding agreement because, according to Plaintiff, the Website is designed in a manner that is insufficient to capture assent to the Terms and Conditions (including the arbitration provision) from the person clicking the “Continue” button unless that person has actual knowledge of the Terms and Conditions. Finally, Plaintiff maintains that even if an agreement to arbitrate was made, Defendant is not a third-party

beneficiary that is entitled to enforce the arbitration agreement. In its Reply, Defendant insists that the issues raised by Plaintiff must be decided by the arbitrator because the arbitration agreement contains a delegation clause under which the arbitrator, not the Court, is tasked with deciding gateway issues. Defendant also argues that Plaintiff’s Declaration is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact, the Website provided sufficient inquiry notice of the Terms and Conditions to create an agreement, and Defendant is a third-party beneficiary under the agreement. On March 11, 2020, the Court referred Defendant’s Motion to Magistrate Judge Strauss. [ECF No. 34.] On May 13, 2020, Magistrate Judge Strauss issued the Report recommending that the Court deny Defendant’s Motion without prejudice pending a bench trial to determine whether

Plaintiff visited the Website in question. See generally Report. Magistrate Judge Strauss reasoned that the question of whether the parties agreed to arbitrate was appropriately before the Court (rather than an arbitrator), but deferred to the arbitrator on the question of whether Defendant is a third-party beneficiary able to enforce the agreement. Id. at 7-10. The Report then concluded that the Website’s design and language was sufficient as a matter of law to bind visitors to the terms and conditions. Id. at 13-16. Thus, Magistrate Judge Strauss found that whoever visited the Website and clicked “Continue” assented to the Terms and Conditions, which included the arbitration provision. Id. at 15-16.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Colleen Macort v. Prem, Inc.
208 F. App'x 781 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
Williams v. McNeil
557 F.3d 1287 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Schultz
565 F.3d 1353 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan
514 U.S. 938 (Supreme Court, 1995)
Larry Williams v. Harry K. Singletary
78 F.3d 1510 (Eleventh Circuit, 1996)
Caltagirone v. School Bd. of Hernando Cty.
355 So. 2d 873 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1978)
Acumen Const., Inc. v. Neher
616 So. 2d 98 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1993)
Michael Dasher v. RBC Bank
745 F.3d 1111 (Eleventh Circuit, 2014)
Christina Bazemore v. Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC
827 F.3d 1325 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
Metropcs Communications v. Jorge Porter
273 So. 3d 1025 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
Vitacost.com, Inc. v. McCants
210 So. 3d 761 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017)
Brooks v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida, Inc.
116 F.3d 1364 (Eleventh Circuit, 1997)
Hilton v. Fluent, LLC
297 F. Supp. 3d 1337 (S.D. Florida, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Bell v. Royal Seas Cruises, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bell-v-royal-seas-cruises-inc-flsd-2020.